The Vanguard

Vanguard is becoming one of my fav restaurants in the city! The staff is friendly and attentive. Their drink specials are affordable and diverse. The bartender Scott is so quick and helpful! The food is delicious. You don't get a lot of food for the price but the quality of the food outweighs the quantity. Portion size is why this review only got 4 stars. Now don't get me wrong I'm not expecting an all you can eat buffet, but can I get two pieces of chicken w my chicken and waffles?! Sunday's are my fav time to go. From 2-6p they have The Brunction. Two DJs spinning a variety of music and that makes my heart happy. The space is inviting and lux. They have a full bar. The music they play is chill and low enough to have a great conversation with friends. I recommend you try the Vanguard at least once. Located just off the main strip in Broadripple above the Casba. Come enjoy some good food and a nice cocktail!

The food was AMAZING. We went because Google recommended it to my friend and it was absolutely on point. Food came fast, selection was good. They have a shot and drink for $9 special going on, which I think we can all appreciate and get on board with. The staff was super nice and checked in on is to make sure we enjoyed ourselves. We'd go back.

Delicious food! Crazy good service!!! For example... I ordered a cocktail and they didn’t have ingredients to make it and the general manger went across the street and bought ingredients in order to be able to make it!!! They went above and beyond and when you are a father of three kids under the age of 5 you don’t have childcare for date night very often and they made this date night awesome!!! I absolutely recommend this stellar restaurant!! I wish I could give 10 stars!

Before I start, want to make sure that I say this was Valentines Day. And it was what you’d expect for a newly-remodeled, higher end, romantic restaurant located in the ‘fun hip part’ of Indianapolis. (e.g. not ‘can you afford to eat here?’ Mass Ave). We started with oysters, big hit with my wife. Especially because she’s kinda picky on sea foody items. Thumbs up. And, wait for it, I had to try the popcorn grits. Oh I hope the NOLA gods don’t strike me down. I had popcorn grits one other time, ironically not that long ago, and had was understatement. Folks, I would highly recommend. My wife and I go to the Big Easy several times a year, I know my grits. Wife had oysters entree, again she loved it. I had the pork chop with some Spanish flair. Initially, I thought it was a little salty & very tender, but after I put my glasses on I realized it was fat. Hey, for fat it wasn’t bad. After working my way to the meat, it wasn’t bad. A little dry but flavorful. The drink menu is fun & encourage people to have some fun. The best part was the owner, Bill, stopped by our table. The place was packed & loud, and he was clearly horse from a long busy day. Most owners on nights like this are bouncing around like they’re running a daycare, not Bill. Very polite & extremely engaging. That kind of clam only comes from an owner that has a lot of trust in his staff. It’s a bit on the pricey side. We’re going to make reservations for a less chaotic night because eating out is as much for atmosphere as it is the food.

It was perfect. The ribeye melted in your mouth, the creamed kale was to die for and the mashed potatoes were real. The cabernet held its own against everything and the bourbon date cake was the perfect end. We just happened into it and we're very glad to have found it. The menu changes quarterly so we're looking forward to the next opportunity to try them out.